System and method for networked loyalty program

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a system for implementing a purchaser incentive program on a network-wide level. The system associates SKU and UPC data on a network level to provide consumers with a purchasing environment that is both convenient and cost-efficient. The association of SKU and UPC data at a network level also provides consumers with the ability to analyze their own purchase data for a variety of purposes, including analyses relating to the consumer&#39;s spending behaviors or patterns for example. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the association of UPC and SKU data by the system facilitates a network-wide search for an item that a consumer desires to purchase under terms or conditions that are selected by the consumer and are therefore perceived to be optimal by that consumer. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the association of UPC and SKU data by the system facilitates data analysis by a consumer based upon any of several factors, including items purchased, prices for those items, retailer ID, SKU number, UPC, manufacturer ID, and/or the like. The system may compile any of the above data across multiple entities for the purpose of data analysis, such as analyses which may be employed in consumer budgeting for example.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication No. 10/010,947, filed Nov. 6, 2001 and entitled “System andMethod for Networked Loyalty Program”; which application claims priorityto and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/836,213, filed Apr. 17, 2001 and entitled “System and Method forNetworked Loyalty Program”, which claims priority to and the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/279,817, filed Mar. 29,2001 and entitled “System and Method for Networked Incentive AwardsProgram”; which application also claims priority to and the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/246,208, filed Nov. 6,2000 and entitled “Virtually Complete Purchasing”. This applicationhereby incorporates by reference each of these prior applications intheir entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to purchaser incentive programsand, more specifically, to the capture of retailer item identifiers andthe matching of such retailer item identifiers with correspondingmanufacturer item identifiers to facilitate, for example, a network-widesearch for an item based upon a consumer's search criteria, as well asan analysis by a consumer of the consumer's purchase data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Incentive award programs have been developed in a variety of industriesto promote customer loyalty. Generally, such programs reward customersfor repeat business with the same merchant or service provider byaccumulating reward points which can then be redeemed in a plurality ofways, including exchanging the reward points for additional goods andservices that may be selected from an approved list or a redemptioncatalog, for example. The reward points are usually calculated using apredetermined formula or ratio that relates a customer's purchase volume(i.e., in terms of money value or some other volume parameter) to acertain number of reward points. For example, reward points may beissued on a one-for-one basis with each dollar that a customer spends onparticular goods and services.

One well-known example of a customer incentive program is a “frequentflyer” program which rewards airlines passengers with “mileage points”based upon the distances that the passengers fly with a particularairline. The mileage points may then be redeemed for free airfare orfree car rentals. Other incentive award programs are designed to induceusage of particular financial instruments, such as credit cards or debitcards, by accumulating reward points or dollar value points based uponthe volume of purchases made using the particular financial instrument.

These types of programs may be designed such that customers of thefinancial institution accumulate reward points which can be redeemed forselected goods or services or, alternatively, such that customersaccumulate points which have a dollar value which can be applied towarda credit or debit balance, depending on whether the instrument is acredit or debit instrument, for example.

These and other similar incentive award programs are described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,774,870 and 6,009,412, issued to Thomas W. Storey andassigned to Netcentives, Inc., both of which are hereby incorporated byreference to the extent that they describe an automated rewards system.For more information on loyalty systems, transaction systems, electroniccommerce systems, and digital wallet systems, see, for example: the ShopAMEX™ system as disclosed in Ser. No. 60/230,190 filed Sep. 5, 2000; theMR as Currency™ and Loyalty Rewards Systems as disclosed in Ser. No.60/197,296 filed on Apr. 14, 2000, Ser. No. 60/200,492 filed Apr. 28,2000, and Ser. No. 60/201,114 filed May 2, 2000; a digital wallet systemas disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 09/652,899 filed Aug. 31, 2000; a storedvalue card as disclosed in Ser. No. 09/241,188 filed on Feb. 1, 1999; asystem for facilitating transactions using secondary transaction numbersas disclosed in Ser. No. 09/800,461 filed on Mar. 7, 2001; and also inrelated provisional applications Ser. No. 60/187,620 filed Mar. 7, 2000,Ser. No. 60/200,625 filed Apr. 28, 2000, and Ser. No. 60/213,323 filedMay 22, 2000; all of which are herein incorporated by reference. Otherexamples of online membership reward systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 5,774,870, issued on Jun. 30, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,412,issued on Dec. 29, 1999, both of which are hereby incorporated byreference. A further example of a loyalty and reward program may befound at the AIR MILES® Web site (www.airmiles.ca), which describes aloyalty program offered by The Loyalty Group, a privately held divisionof Alliance Data Systems of Dallas, Tex., and which is herebyincorporated by reference. Additional information relating to smart cardand smart card reader payment technology is disclosed in Ser. No.60/232,040, filed on Sep. 12, 2000, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,742,845,5,898,838 and 5,905,908, owned by Datascape; all of which are herebyincorporated by reference. Information on point-of-sale systems and theexploitation of point-of-sale data is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,832,457, issued on Nov. 3, 1998 to O'Brien et al., which is herebyincorporated by reference.

Portions of each of the above-described programs may be used to inducecustomer loyalty to particular merchants or service providers whodirectly provide goods or services to the consumer. In other words,these prior art frequency awards programs provide a means for retailbusinesses, financial institutions, and others in direct contact withthe customers they service to provide incentives to their customers toencourage repeat and/or volume business. However, these programs do notsufficiently address the similar needs of businesses that are further upin the distribution chain, such as manufacturers, to promote volumepurchases by customers based upon, for example, brand loyaltyindependent of the retail source for the purchase. Additionally, theprior art programs do not provide a means for monitoring, tracking,and/or analyzing consumer and product data across distribution channelsfor a particular manufacturer and/or the variety of goods which thatmanufacturer places into the stream of commerce for ultimate sale toconsumers by a retailer.

Generally, before a product arrives at a retail establishment for saleto a consumer, the product travels through a distribution chain whichoriginates with the manufacturer. The manufacturer typically sells itsproducts to a wholesaler who in turn sells those products to variousretailers. Most modern retailers implement some form of computerizationor electronic technology in their day-to-day operations. This technologytypically consists of using point-of-sale (POS) systems for automatingcheckout procedures, assisting sales personnel, and the like. POSsystems generally include one or more automated check-out terminalswhich are capable of inputting or sensing and interpreting a symbol orother indicia related to the product, such as a Universal Product Code(UPC), generally comprising a machine-readable bar code coupled with ahuman-readable UPC number, that is printed on a label or tag which isplaced on each item of merchandise to be purchased. The manufacturer mayassign and mark each product that it sells with a UPC. Conventionally,once the product reaches the retailer, the retailer further identifieseach product with a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) number or code as well asother information for identifying a specific item or style ofmerchandise. The retailer's SKU number may be either an entirelydifferent number used to identify each product (e.g., by style) or amodified version of the manufacturer's UPC number, derived, perhaps, byadding a SKU number to the UPC number, for example.

A POS terminal, a kiosk terminal, or a sales person's hand-held terminalmight be coupled to a store computer system, such as a network server orsome other store platform host, which is able to recognize and processUPC and/or SKU information which has been manually keyed-in or sensedand interpreted by a device, such as a barcode reader, coupled to theterminal. The computer system typically includes a database which storesinformation relating to the retailer's product inventory, such asstocked merchandise, a UPC and/or SKU number for each item ofmerchandise, and various types of merchandise identificationinformation, such as price, inventory, style, color, size, etc., whichis associated with each UPC and/or SKU number. When a customer purchasesan item of merchandise, store personnel frequently use an automatedterminal to read the barcode markings which are attached to the item. Acomputer interprets the UPC and/or SKU number comprised by the barcode,accesses the database to determine the price for each item, andmaintains a running total of the total transaction price.

One problem that results from the independent identification schemes ofthe manufacturer and the retailers is that there is no way for themanufacturer to track the quantity of any particular product that eachretailer sold. For example, even if a manufacturer obtains all of theSKU numbers representing items purchased from

Retailer 1 and Retailer 2 by consumers, the manufacturer has no meansfor determining which SKU number corresponds to the manufacturer's UPC,since the UPC's and SKU numbers of the various retailers are not trackedand matched.

In view of the foregoing, a need exists for an incentive or loyaltyprogram which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art. Thus, thereis a need for a system and method which provides a universal customerincentive program that networks various levels of the productdistribution chain, such as manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers,to provide incentives to consumers to purchase products not only from aparticular merchant or group of merchants but also from particularmanufacturers, who are not necessarily related to the specific merchantwho sells the manufacturer's products to the consumer. Additionally, aneed exists for a system and method for gathering data which associatesparticular consumer purchasing behaviors and specific products orproduct criteria across a manufacturer's distribution channels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system for implementing a purchaserincentive program on a network-wide level. The system associates SKU andUPC data on a network level to provide consumers with a purchasingenvironment that is both convenient and cost-efficient. The associationof SKU and UPC data at a network level also provides consumers with theability to analyze their own purchase data for a variety of purposes,including analyses relating to the consumer's spending behaviors orpatterns for example. In accordance with one aspect of the invention,the association of UPC and SKU data by the system facilitates a searchwhich may be network-wide for an item that a consumer desires topurchase under terms or conditions that are selected by the consumer andare therefore perceived to be optimal by that consumer. In accordancewith another aspect of the invention, the association of UPC and SKUdata by the system facilitates data analysis by a consumer based uponany of several factors, including items purchased, prices for thoseitems, retailer ID, SKU number, UPC, manufacturer ID, and/or the like.The system may compile any of the above data across multiple entitiesfor the purpose of data analysis, such as analyses which may be employedin consumer budgeting for example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Additional aspects of the present invention will become evident uponreviewing the non-limiting embodiments described in the specificationand the claims, in conjunction with the accompanying figures, whereinlike numerals designate like elements, and wherein:

FIGS. 1-3 are schematic block diagrams illustrating exemplary incentivesystems in accordance with various aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary central rewardsmechanism in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary rewards server inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for capturingand processing POS SKU data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for associatingSKU data and UPC data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary virtualpurchasing system in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary virtual purchaser inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for conductinga network-wide search for an item in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process forfacilitating the purchase of an item located through the process of FIG.10;

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary consumer purchasinganalysis system in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 13 is flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for obtaining arecord of a consumer's purchasing activities; and

FIG. 14 is flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for analyzing aconsumer's purchasing activities.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The following disclosure presents and describes various exemplaryembodiments in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the invention, and it should be understood that otherembodiments may be realized without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention. Thus, the following detailed description is presentedfor purposes of illustration only, and not of limitation, and the scopeof the invention is defined solely by the appended claims.

The present invention may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components and various processing steps. It should be appreciatedthat such functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardwareand/or software components configured to perform the specifiedfunctions. For example, the present invention may employ variousintegrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements, processingelements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, which may carryout a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the present invention may be implemented with anyprogramming or scripting language such as C, C++, Java, COBOL,assembler, PERL, or the like, with the various algorithms beingimplemented with any combination of data structures, objects, processes,routines, or other programming elements. Further, it should be notedthat the present invention may employ any number of conventionaltechniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, networkcontrol, and the like. For a basic introduction to cryptography, pleasereview a text written by Bruce Schneider which is entitled “AppliedCryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,” published byJohn Wiley & Sons (second edition, 1996), which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

It should be appreciated that the particular implementations shown anddescribed herein are illustrative of the invention and its best mode andare not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the present inventionin any way. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown in the variousfigures contained herein are intended to represent exemplary functionalrelationships and/or physical couplings between the various elements. Itshould be noted that many alternative or additional functionalrelationships or physical connections may be present in a practicalincentive system implemented in accordance with the invention.

Communication between participants in the system of the presentinvention is accomplished through any suitable communication means, suchas, for example, a telephone network, public switch telephone network,intranet, Internet, extranet, WAN, LAN, point of interaction device(e.g., point of sale device, personal digital assistant, cellular phone,kiosk terminal, automated teller machine (ATM), etc.), onlinecommunications, off-line communications, wireless communications,satellite communications, and/or the like. One skilled in the art willalso appreciate that, for security reasons, any databases, systems, orcomponents of the present invention may consist of any combination ofdatabases or components at a single location or at multiple locations,wherein each database or system includes any of various suitablesecurity features, such as firewalls, access codes, encryption,de-encryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

It further will be appreciated that users may interact with the systemvia any input device such as a keyboard, mouse, kiosk, personal digitalassistant, handheld computer (e.g., Palm Pilot®), cellular phone, and/orthe like. Similarly, the invention could be used in conjunction with anytype of personal computer, network computer, workstation, minicomputer,mainframe, or the like, running any operating system, such as anyversion of Windows, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows 95,MacOS, OS/2, BeOS, Linux, UNIX, or the like. Moreover, although theinvention may be described herein as being implemented with TCP/IPcommunications protocols, it will be readily understood that theinvention could also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS,OSI, or any number of existing or future protocols. Moreover, the systemcontemplates the use, sale, or distribution of any goods, services, orinformation over any network having similar functionality describedherein.

Each participant or user of the system of the present invention,including purchasers, retailers, manufacturers, and a third-partyproviders, may be equipped with a suitable computing system tofacilitate online communications and transactions with any otherparticipant. For example, some or all participants may have access to acomputing unit in the form of a personal computer, although other typesof computing units may be used, including laptops, notebooks, handheldcomputers, set-top boxes, kiosk terminals, and the like. Additionally,other participants may have computing systems which may be implementedin the form of a computer-server, a PC server, a networked set ofcomputers, or any other suitable implementations which are known in theart or may hereafter be devised.

The computing systems may be connected with each other via a datacommunications network, as described more fully above. For example, thenetwork may be a public network, which is assumed to be insecure andopen to eavesdroppers. In one embodiment, the network is embodied as theInternet. In this context, the computers may or may not be connected tothe Internet at all times. For instance, the consumer's computer mayemploy a modem to occasionally connect to the Internet, whereas theretailer computing system, the manufacturer computing system, and thecentral rewards mechanism might maintain a permanent connection to theInternet. It is noted that the network may be implemented as other typesof networks, such as an interactive television (ITV) network.

The retailer's computer system may also be interconnected to athird-party provider via a second network, referred to as a paymentnetwork. The payment network represents existing proprietary networksthat presently accommodate transactions for credit cards, debit cards,and other types of financial instruments or banking cards. The paymentnetwork is a closed network that is assumed to be secure fromeavesdroppers. Examples of the payment network include the AmericanExpress®, VisaNet®, and the Veriphone® networks.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the presentinvention may be embodied as a method, a data processing system, adevice for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of anentirely software embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or anembodiment combining aspects of both software and hardware. Furthermore,the present invention may take the form of a computer program product ona computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program codemeans embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable computer-readablestorage medium may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, opticalstorage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or the like.

The present invention is described below with reference to blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (e.g.,systems), and computer program products according to various aspects ofthe invention. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions. Thesecomputer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionswhich execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose, hardware-based computer systems which performthe specified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions.

As used herein, the terms “user” and “participant” shall interchangeablyrefer to any person, entity, charitable organization, machine, hardware,software, or business who accesses and uses the system of the invention,including consumers, retailers, manufacturers, and third-partyproviders. Participants in the system may interact with one anothereither online or off-line.

As used herein, the term “online” refers to interactive communicationsthat take place between participants who are remotely located from oneanother, including communication through any of the networks orcommunications means described above or the like.

The term “manufacturer” shall include any person, entity, charitableorganization, machine, software, hardware, and/or the like thatmanufactures, distributes, or originates a product or service which mayultimately be offered to a consumer directly or indirectly through aretailer. The term “manufacturer” may also include any party thatgenerates and/or provides manufacturer item identifiers.

The term “retailer” shall include any person, entity, charitableorganization, machine, software, hardware, and/or the like that thatoffers a product or service to a consumer. As used herein, the term“retailer” is used interchangeably with the term “merchant”. Moreover,in this context, a retailer or merchant may offer or sell, either onlineor off-line, products and/or services made or supplied by at least onemanufacturer.

As used herein, the phrases “network level” and “network-wide level”shall refer to a system that includes more than one retailer and atleast one manufacturer.

As used herein, the terms “purchaser”, “customer”, “consumer”, and“end-user” may be used interchangeably with each other, and each shallmean any person, entity, charitable organization, or business which usesa consumer ID to participate in the present system.

A “consumer ID”, as used herein, includes any device, code, or otheridentifier suitably configured to allow the consumer to interact orcommunicate with the system, such as, for example, a rewards card,charge card, credit card, debit card, prepaid card, telephone card,smart card, magnetic stripe card, bar code card, transponder,authorization/access code, personal identification number (PIN),Internet code, other identification code, and/or the like. Additionally,a “consumer ID” may comprise any form of radio wave, electronic,magnetic, and/or optical device capable of receiving (uploading) and/ortransmitting (downloading) data to and/or from itself to a second devicewhich is capable of interacting and communicating with such forms ofconsumer ID.

“Consumer enrollment data” may comprise any of the following: name;address; date of birth; social security number; email address; gender;the names of any household members; survey data; interests; educationallevel; and/or any preferred brand names. A consumer may register toparticipate in the present system by any methods known and practiced inthe art. For example, a consumer may be enrolled automatically (e.g., ifthe consumer holds an existing consumer account with the systemadministrator), over the phone, at the point of sale (e.g., through apaper application or a verbal interview), through the mail, or throughinstant enrollment online. Upon enrollment, the consumer receives aconsumer ID that is associated with a consumer account.

In an exemplary aspect, “consumer enrollment data” may also comprise atransaction card number for charging any fees that may be associatedwith participation in the system and/or for facilitating the purchase ofgoods and services through the virtual purchasing system describedbelow. In this context, a “transaction card number” may include anydevice, code, or suitable financial instrument representing an accountwith a financial institution, such as a bank, a card issuer, and/or thelike, wherein the device, code, or other suitable financial instrumenthas a credit line or balance associated with it, and wherein the creditline or balance is in a form of financial tender having discrete units,such as currency. Moreover, a “transaction card number”, a “transactioncard”, or a “card”, as used herein, includes any device, code, orfinancial instrument suitably configured to allow the cardholder tointeract or communicate with the system, such as, for example, a chargecard, credit card, debit card, prepaid card, telephone card, smart card,magnetic stripe card, bar code card, authorization/access code, personalidentification number (PIN), Internet code, other identification code,and/or the like.

A “consumer profile”, as used herein, shall refer to any data used tocharacterize a consumer and/or the behavior of a consumer. In thecontext of a commercial transaction, “a consumer profile” shall beunderstood to include, for example, the time and date of a particularpurchase, the frequency of purchases, the volume/quantity of purchases,the transaction size (price), and/or the like. Additionally, in othertransactional contexts, the term “consumer profile” shall also beunderstood to include non-purchase behaviors of a consumer, such asconsumer enrollment data, visiting a Web site, referrals of prospectiveparticipants in the system, completion of a survey or other informationgathering instrument, and/or the like. For instance, a participatingonline consumer may earn rewards points automatically through atriggering event, such as visiting a Web site, completing an onlinesurvey, or clicking on a banner advertisement for example. Off-line, aparticipating consumer may earn rewards points by completing a task orshowing their consumer ID to the cashier and triggering the cashier toprovide a “behavior” ID which may be input (e.g., by scanning a bar codeon a paper survey for example) into the POS terminal. Further, anyaspects of the consumer profile may be used in the context of dataanalysis.

A “third-party provider” may comprise any additional provider of goodsand/or services to a consumer. Specifically, a “third-party provider”includes any party other than the particular manufacturer and retailerwho is involved in a transaction with a consumer. A third-party providermay include, for example, a financial institution, such as a bank or anissuer of a financial instrument (such as a credit card or a debitcard). A third-party provider may also include a provider of goods andservices which are offered as awards to consumers in exchange for arequisite number of reward points.

Though the invention may generically be described with reference to aseries of transactions which transfer a good or service from anoriginating party to an intermediary party and a subsequent transactionwhich transfers the good or service from the intermediary party to anend-user of that good or service, for convenience and purposes ofbrevity and consistency, the present disclosure generally refers to theoriginating party as a “manufacturer”, the intermediary party as a“retailer”, the end-user as a “consumer”, and a good or service as a“product” or “item”. However, it will be recognized by those of ordinaryskill in the art that the retailer need not provide a product or item toa consumer in exchange for monetary currency. While this often may bethe case, the present disclosure is not so limited and includestransactions which may be gratuitous in nature, whereby the retailertransfers a product or item to a consumer without the consumer providingany currency or other value in exchange. It is further noted thatadditional participants, referred to as third-party providers, may beinvolved in some phases of the transaction, though these participantsare not shown. Exemplary third-party providers may include financialinstitutions, such as banks, credit card companies, card sponsoringcompanies, or issuers of credit who may be under contract with financialinstitutions. It will be appreciated that any number of consumers,retailers, manufacturers, third-party providers, and the like mayparticipate in the system of the present invention.

As used herein, the term “UPC” and the phrase “manufacturer itemidentifier” shall refer to any symbol or indicia which providesinformation and, in an exemplary embodiment, shall refer to any number,code, or identifier assigned by a manufacturer and associated with anitem, including any type of goods and/or services, ultimately offered toa consumer or other end-user. Colloquially, a UPC is sometimes referredto as a SKU number. However, as used herein, the term “SKU”and thephrase “retailer item identifier” shall refer to any symbol or indiciawhich provides additional information and, in an exemplary embodiment,shall refer to any number, code, or identifier assigned by a retailerand associated with an item, including any type of goods and/orservices, offered to a consumer or other end-user.

“Purchase data”, as used herein, comprises data relating to the offer ofany item to a consumer or other end-user. Purchase data may include anyof the following: an item purchased, an item price, a number of itemspurchased, a total transaction price, a payment vehicle, a date, aretailer ID, a store ID, an employee identifier, a retailer itemidentifier, a manufacturer ID, a manufacturer item identifier, a loyaltyidentifier, and/or the like.

“Retailer ID” or “retailer identifier”, as used herein, comprises anysymbol, indicia, code, number, or other identifier that may beassociated with a retailer of any type of goods and/or services offeredto a consumer or other end-user. A retailer ID may also include or beassociated with a “store ID”, which designates the location of aparticular store.

A “manufacturer ID” or “manufacturer identifier” comprises any symbol,indicia, code, number, or other identifier that may be associated with amanufacturer of any type of goods and/or services ultimately offered toa consumer or other end-user.

An “award” or “reward” may comprise any quantity of products, services,coupons, gift certificates, rebates, reward points, bonus points,credits or debits to a financial instrument, any combination of these,and/or the like.

“Data analysis”, as used herein, shall be understood to comprisequantitative and qualitative research, statistical modeling, regressionanalyses, market segmentation analyses, econometrics, financialanalyses, budgeting analyses, and/or the like. Such analyses may be usedto predict consumer behaviors and/or correlate consumer profiles,retailer data, manufacturer data, and/or product or service data. Suchanalyses may also be used to monitor a consumer's personal finances byenabling a consumer to track their spending behaviors and patterns, asan individual or as part of a family, organization or other group.

The system of the present invention associates or maps manufacturer UPCdata and retailer SKU data on a network level to reward consumers and/orto analyze the data for a variety of business purposes, such as marketsegmentation analyses and/or analyses relating to consumer spendingbehaviors or patterns for example. Rather than simply capturingtransactions at a Record of Charge (ROC) level, that is, recordingconsumer purchases in a general fashion by designating purchasecategories (such as “clothing”, “electronics”, or “hardware” forexample), the system identifies the particular item purchased (such as“jeans”, “stereo”, or “hammer” for example) as well as its correspondingmanufacturer. By matching or associating the retailer SKU and themanufacturer's UPC, the system permits the standardization of goodsand/or services codes at the network level. This standardization notonly permits a record of both the specific item purchased and itsmanufacturer, regardless of the particular retailer involved in thetransaction, but it permits the mapping of multiple consumers, multiplegoods and/or services, multiple retailers, and/or multiple manufacturersto advantageously cross-market goods and services to consumers.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the association of UPCand SKU data by the system facilitates implementation of an incentive orloyalty program by providing a universal rewards currency which may be“spent” by participants who have earned rewards and accepted by theother participants in the multi-tiered network created by the system.The network may comprise any number of participants, includingconsumers, retailers (and any of their employees), manufacturers,third-party providers, and the like. Each of these categories ofparticipants may be considered a tier in the network, and eachparticipant within the various tiers may design and implement anindependent rewards scheme within the context of the universalenvironment provided by the system. For example, Manufacturer 1 mayproduce and assign a UPC to Item X. Item X may subsequently be offeredfor sale by both Retailer 1 and Retailer 2. Retailer 1 and Retailer 2may then each assign an independent SKU number to Item X to facilitatetheir own tracking, inventory, and pricing schemes. A consumer may thenpurchase Item X from both Retailer 1 and Retailer 2.

Since the system is capable of processing, associating, and quantifyinga variety of data, including consumer data, employee data, retailerdata, manufacturer data, SKU number data corresponding to Item X, andUPC data assigned by Manufacturer 1, for example, this data can then beused by the manufacturer, the retailer, the system administrator, and/ora third-party provider to provide rewards to consumers, employees,retailers, etc. For example, a manufacturer may provide frequency-basedincentives, such as every 10^(th) purchase of a particular item will bediscounted by 50% for example, independent of and/or in addition to anyincentives offered by the specific retailer involved in the transaction.Additionally, the manufacturer may provide sales incentives to theemployees of retailers independent of and/or in addition to any employeeincentive programs that the retailers may choose to implement.

Since rewards, which may be in the form of rewards points, may be earnedacross the various tiers in the network, rewards may also be used orspent across the various tiers in the network. Thus, any rewards pointsthat an employee, for example, may earn by promoting a particularmanufacturer's line of products, may be “spent” by that employee ongoods or services provided by any participant in the network, not merelyat the retailer who employs that employee. Likewise, any rewards pointsearned by a consumer may be spent on goods or services offered by anyparticipant in the network.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the association ofUPC and SKU data by the system facilitates data analysis on a networklevel based upon several factors, including any of the following:consumer ID, consumer profile, retailer ID, SKU number, UPC,manufacturer ID, and/or the like. The system may compile any of theabove data across multiple participants for the purpose of dataanalysis, such as analyses which may be employed in strategic planningand marketing for example. The system of the invention may be used tocompile, analyze, and report data in a manner which would inform any orall network participants that, for example, a specific consumer (1) hasmade multiple purchases of particular manufacturers' products; (2) hasspent Q dollars over a certain time period; (3) at specific multipleretailers; and (4) of the purchases made, R dollars went towards thepurchase of Product 1, S dollars went towards the purchase of Product 2,and T dollars went towards the purchase of Service 1. Moreover, thesystem may be used to compile, analyze, and report data that enable aretailer, a manufacturer, and/or a third-party provider to create avariety of targeted marketing promotions, such as, for example, (1)marketing Product 1 offered by Manufacturer 1 to consumers who purchaseProduct 2 offered by Manufacturer 2; (2) marketing Product 1 offered byManufacturer 1 and sold by Retailer X to consumers who purchase Product2 offered by Manufacturer 2 at Retailer Y; and/or (3) marketing Product1 offered by Manufacturer 1 and sold by Retailer X to consumers whopurchase Product 2 offered by Manufacturer 2 at Retailer Y five times ayear. It will be appreciated that these are but a few of the manypossible applications for data gathered and generated by the system ofthe present invention.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the systemadministrator may allocate rewards points to participants in the system.In one embodiment, participating retailers and/or manufacturers maypurchase points from the system administrator and the points are thenallocated to an account associated with the retailer and/ormanufacturer. In an alternate embodiment, the system administrator maygive or donate points to participating retailers and/or manufacturers.The system administrator maintains an account with each of theparticipating retailers and manufacturers and tracks available pointsbalances and/or balances owing on a rolling basis. The points purchasedby the retailers and/or manufacturers may then be earned by and issuedto consumers in a manner that is predetermined by the retailer and/ormanufacturer involved in the transaction with the consumer. For example,Retailer 1 may purchase 10,000 points from the system administrator andthen offer consumers 1 point for every $10 dollars spent in Retailer 1'sstore or, perhaps, some number of points for every fifth transaction inthe store. Moreover, Manufacturer 1, who produces the product offered byRetailer 1, may also purchase points from the system administrator.Thus, when a consumer purchases Manufacturer 1's product at Retailer 1,Manufacturer 1 may issue some number of points to the consumer. Theissuance of points, either by retailers or manufacturers, may be basedupon any selected criteria, including a points-for-dollars ratio, adefined quantity of points per item or per transaction, some combinationof these, and/or the like.

The system administrator maintains an account for each participatingconsumer and apprises the consumer of the points totals and accountactivity. The consumer may review the total number of points in theaccount either online or off-line, such as through a periodic statementsent by the system administrator or through the use of a communicationsnetwork, such as the Internet, for example. Points in the consumer'saccount are accumulated across the multiple retailers and/ormanufacturers participating in the system. Thus, points earned by aconsumer based upon transactions with different retailers and/ormanufacturers are combined, resulting in a rapid accrual of points. Thesystem administrator offers a catalog of products and services, whichmay be either online or off-line, from which consumers may selectrewards in exchange for accrued points. In this manner, consumersadvantageously earn points based upon their everyday purchases ofproducts and services, these points are accrued across retailers and/ormanufacturers, and points redemption takes place through a single,universal catalog of rewards.

In accordance with the present invention, FIG. 1 is a diagramillustrating an exemplary embodiment of an incentive or loyalty system100. System 100 comprises a central rewards mechanism 102; a pluralityof retailer/merchant systems 104; and at least one manufacturer 106. Oneskilled in the art will appreciate that system 100 may comprise anynumber of retailer systems 104 and any number of manufacturers 106.

The central rewards mechanism 102 manages the incentive or loyaltyprogram of the system 100. In an exemplary embodiment, central rewardsmechanism 102 receives, processes, and stores manufacturer data, such asinformation regarding products and/or services and UPC data, transmittedby manufacturers 106 who have enrolled in the system 100. Manufacturers106 may transmit data to central rewards mechanism 102 in any form andby any means known in the art, including any of the communications meansdescribed above. The manufacturer data is stored by the central rewardsmechanism 102 in database 103. Database 103 may be any type of database,such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like.Common database products that may be used to implement database 103include DB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y.), any of the database productsavailable from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.), MicrosoftAccess by Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), or any other databaseproduct. Database 103 may be organized in any suitable manner, includingas data tables or lookup tables.

The central rewards mechanism 102 may receive and process consumer IDinformation and purchase data from any of the retailer systems 104. Thecentral rewards mechanism 102 may also associate a particular consumerID with the purchase data and a corresponding manufacturer itemidentifier. In one embodiment, the central rewards mechanism 102performs an analysis involving any of the following: a consumer ID,purchase data, a points ratio, a consumer profile, a retailer ID, and amanufacturer ID. The analysis may be dependent upon an the associationof the consumer IDs, the purchase data, and the manufacturer itemidentifier. The analysis may further comprise, for example, acalculation of rewards points and/or other analyses for purposes ofmarket segmentation, determining consumer spending behavior, correlatingspending behavior and consumer demographics, and/or the like, asdescribed in greater detail above.

In one exemplary embodiment, the central rewards mechanism 102 storesand informs a consumer of the rewards points that have been earned by aparticular transaction as well as accumulated over time. The number ofrewards points calculated and awarded by the central rewards mechanism102 for a particular purchase may depend upon a predetermined rewardsratio. The rewards ratio may be determined by the retailer, the systemadministrator, the manufacturer of the purchased item, and/or any othersuitable third-party. For example, if a participating consumer buys aproduct from a retailer for $100 and if the retailer rewards ratio isone reward point for each dollar of the purchase price (i.e.,one-for-one), once the consumer's consumer ID is identified by thesystem, the consumer is credited with a suitable number of rewardspoints from the retailer, which, in this case, would be 100 points.However, if the manufacturer also chooses to issue rewards points forthe item purchased, the manufacturer may select a points ratio that isdifferent from the retailer's selected ratio. In the illustratedexample, if the manufacturer's selected points ratio is two-for-one,then the consumer will be awarded an additional 200 points from themanufacturer for this single $100 purchase. In this manner, the systemof the invention may provide “earn accelerators” through which consumersmay accumulate rewards points at a comparatively rapid rate. In otherwords, a single purchase may generate rewards points for a consumer fromany or all of a retailer, a manufacturer, and/or a third-party provider,and those rewards points may be used as rewards currency by the consumerthroughout the network established by the system of the invention.

In an exemplary embodiment, retailer system 104 comprises a retailerterminal 108 and a retailer processor 110 in communication with database111. Retailer terminal 108 comprises any device capable of identifying aconsumer ID. Exemplary devices for identifying a consumer ID mayinclude: a conventional card reader which recognizes a magnetic stripeor bar code associated with a consumer ID; a biometric device; a smartcard reader which recognizes information stored on a microchipintegrated with a consumer ID; and any device capable of receiving oruploading consumer ID data transmitted electronically, magnetically, oroptically; and/or the like. In one embodiment, retailer terminal 108 andretailer processor 110 are co-located at a retail store. In anotherembodiment, retail terminal 108 and retailer processor 110 are remotefrom each other.

In an exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, retailer terminal108 comprises a retailer POS terminal 112, such as a cash register or anonline retailer Web site, for example. When a consumer ID is used at thetime an item is purchased, purchase data, including a SKU number, isinput, sensed, or otherwise recognized by terminal 108, and then thepurchase data is processed and stored by retailer processor 110.Retailer processor 110 comprises or is in communication with a suitabledatabase 111 or other storage device for maintaining and storingpurchase data and any other suitable retailer information. Database 111may be any type of database, such as any of the database productsdescribed above for example. Database 111 may be organized in anysuitable manner, including as data tables or lookup tables. Purchasedata that is stored in database 111 is available to the retailer's localback office system (not shown) for inventory, accounting, tax, dataanalysis, and other purposes. The captured purchase data may include theitem purchased, the item's unit price, the number of items purchased,the date, the store location, an employee ID, and any other informationrelated to the purchase. In an exemplary embodiment, retailer processor110 may also receive, process, and store manufacturer data, such asinformation regarding products and/or services and UPC data, frommanufacturers 106 who have enrolled in the system 100. The manufacturerdata may be stored in any suitable form, including data tables or lookuptables.

In accordance with the exemplary embodiments illustrated in FIG. 3,purchase data may also be transmitted to, and then processed and storedby, a retailer regional processor 114 (or, alternatively, a retailernational processor (not shown)) in communication with database 115 forthe purpose of further back office and cumulative data analysis.Database 115 may be any type of database, such as any of the databaseproducts described in greater detail above for example. Database 115 maybe organized in any suitable manner, including as data tables or lookuptables. In an exemplary embodiment, retailer processor 110 optionallymay be integrated with retailer regional processor 114 (illustrated bythe phantom lines encompassing Retailer Processor 1 and retailerregional processor 114 within the system of Retailer/Merchant #2),thereby forming a single device. In another embodiment, retailerprocessor 110 and retailer regional processor 114 are separate deviceswhich may be either co-located with each other or remotely located fromone another. For example, in one embodiment, retailer processor 110 andregional processor 114 are co-located at a particular retail store. Inanother embodiment, retailer processor 110 is located at a particularretail store and retailer regional processor 114 is remotely located ata regional office.

Regardless of the location of retailer regional processor 114, retailerregional processor 114 receives and processes similar information fromeach of the retailer processors 110 associated with each of the retailstores owned by the same retailer. Whether the system 100 comprises aretailer regional processor 114 or a retailer national processor may bea function of the number of stores maintained by a particular retailer.That is, a larger retailer who has numerous stores throughout thecountry, for example, may choose to have a plurality of regionalprocessors, while a smaller retailer with a few stores scattered acrossthe country may be better served by a single, national processor. Inexemplary embodiments, the retailer regional processors 114 and/ornational processors communicate with a suitable database 115 or otherstorage device which is configured to store and maintain purchase dataand any other suitable retailer information. In another exemplaryembodiment, retailer regional processor 114 may receive, process, andstore manufacturer data, such as information regarding products and/orservices and UPC data, from manufacturers 106 who have enrolled in thesystem 100. The manufacturer data may be stored in any suitable form,including data tables or lookup tables.

With momentary reference to FIG. 2, retailer terminal 108 may comprise arewards terminal 116 through which a consumer may be updated with regardto various aspects of the system. For example, rewards terminal 116 mayinform a consumer of the number of reward points that they haveaccumulated from all system participants and the types of awards thatmay be obtained using those reward points. Moreover, rewards terminal116 may suggest to the consumer various awards for which the consumer iseligible based upon the rewards points generated by the consumer'snetwork-wide purchases. In this context, network-wide purchases includeany purchases of items corresponding to retailers and/or manufacturersparticipating in the system 100.

In an exemplary embodiment, rewards terminal 116 operates in real-time.In this context, “real-time” means that reward points are immediately,or nearly immediately, updated at the time purchases are made and aretherefore immediately redeemable by the consumer at the a point of sale.Thus, for example, a consumer may be informed by rewards terminal 116 atthe point of sale that the item being purchased by the consumer may bepurchased using the consumer's accumulated reward points, includingpoints accumulated on a network level. Points accumulated on a networklevel enable consumers to accumulate points more rapidly than would bepossible if only a single retailer or group of retailers were issuingthe points. In one embodiment, rewards terminal 116 may update aconsumer's rewards points in real-time and, in response to theconsumer's particular points total, issue a coupon, a gift certificate,and/or additional bonus points to the consumer.

In another exemplary embodiment, the system may operate in batch mode,wherein points totals are calculated, stored, and periodically updatedfor access by the retailer terminal 108, including POS terminal 112and/or rewards terminal 116. Thus, in this embodiment, the consumer maybe notified of available points sometime after a purchase, or asuggestive sale may take place after a purchase. The total point countor suggestive sale may take into account points generated andaccumulated as the result of network-wide purchases.

In various alternate embodiments of the invention, retailer terminal 108may include a rewards terminal 116 but not a POS terminal 112; a POSterminal 112 but not a rewards terminal 116; or a POS terminal 112 incommunication with a rewards terminal 116. In alternate embodiments,where terminal 108 includes a POS terminal 112 and a rewards terminal116, the two terminals 112 and 116 may be variously implemented asseparate terminals, integrated terminals, or software within a device.In another embodiment, where terminal 108 comprises a rewards terminal116 but not a POS terminal 112, terminal 108 may be a kiosk terminallocated within a retail store or some other remote terminal which iscapable of recognizing a consumer ID and communicating with the system100. A consumer may use independent rewards terminal 116 to do, forexample, any of the following: view accumulated reward points totals;view potential awards which the consumer may obtain in exchange forvarious numbers of points; select an award; redeem rewards points for aselected award; request and/or receive a reward points advisorystatement; and/or view a directory of participating retailers,manufacturers, and third-party providers.

In another exemplary embodiment, system 100 further comprises a consumerterminal 118. Consumer terminal 118 is any remote terminal through whicha consumer may access other aspects of the system 100. Consumer terminal118 may comprise any of the input devices, computing units, or computingsystems described above. Further, consumer terminal 118 communicateswith the system 100 through any of the communications networks describedabove. In one embodiment, consumer terminal 118 permits a consumer toengage multiple facets of the system 100 in an interactive onlinecommunications environment. The interactive online environment madeavailable through consumer terminal 118 is an extension of thenetwork-level incentive award program and is implemented in conjunctionwith other aspects of the system 100. In this context, a consumer mayuse consumer terminal 118 for a variety of purposes. In one embodiment,consumer terminal 118 may be used to communicate with and receiveinformation from the central rewards mechanism 102. For example, aconsumer may use consumer terminal 118 to do any of the following:enroll in the system; receive statements or reports regardingaccumulated reward points totals; receive bonus details; view potentialawards which the consumer may obtain in exchange for various numbers ofpoints; select an award; receive redemption information; view pointsadjustments; redeem rewards points for a selected award; request and/orreceive a reward points advisory statement; receive informationregarding where and how points were earned and/or how points wereredeemed; receive information regarding expiration dates for pointsearned; receive information relating to any applicable fees; receiveinformation regarding marketing promotions; and/or view a directory ofparticipating retailers, manufacturers, and/or third-party providers.

In another embodiment, consumer terminal 118 may be used to interactwith and/or make purchases and generate rewards points fromparticipating online retailers, as illustrated by the various phantomlines in FIG. 1. The online retailer may then communicate with thecentral rewards mechanism 102 to transmit and process a consumer ID,purchase data, etc., as described above with reference to retailer 104of FIG. 1. Information communicated between the online consumer, theonline retailer, and the online central rewards mechanism may include,for example, product or service information, prices, availability of theproduct or service, shipping information, rewards points information,available awards, information regarding points ratios and pointsredemption, and/or the like. In one embodiment, consumer terminal 118operates in real-time, as described above with respect to rewardsterminal 116. In another embodiment, the consumer terminal 118 mayoperate in batch mode, as described above. In still a furtherembodiment, consumer terminal 118 operates in a manner which includesaspects of both real-time functionality and batch mode functionality.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the system 100 maycomprise a rewards server 120 in communication with a database 121, asillustrated in FIG. 2. Database 121 may be any type of database, such asany of the database products described above for example. Database 121may be organized in any suitable manner, including as data tables orlookup tables. In an exemplary embodiment, rewards server 120 may be anyhardware and/or software that is configured to communicate with thecentral rewards mechanism 102 and either the retailer processor 110 orthe retailer regional processor 114. In alternate exemplary embodiments,rewards server 120 may be integrated with retailer system 104; rewardsserver 120 may be integrated with central rewards mechanism 102; orrewards server 120 may be separate from both retailer system 104 andcentral rewards mechanism 102. In a further embodiment, the rewardsserver 120 may communicate with both a retailer national processor (notshown) and the central rewards mechanism 102.

In an exemplary embodiment, rewards server 120 receives, processes, andstores both manufacturer data and retailer data. Manufacturer data mayinclude descriptions of products and/or services and UPC datatransmitted from manufacturers 106 who have enrolled in the system 100.The manufacturer data may be stored in any suitable form, including datatables or lookup tables. Retailer data may include descriptions ofproducts and/or services and SKU data transmitted from retailers 104 whohave enrolled in the system 100. The retailer data may be stored in anysuitable form, including data tables or lookup tables.

In an exemplary embodiment, the rewards server 120 performs a pluralityof functions that might otherwise be performed by the central rewardsmechanism 102. For example, since rewards calculations requiresignificant processing and memory resources, performance of calculationsprocessing by the rewards server 120 at the regional level lessens theprocessing load on the central rewards mechanism 102, thereby increasingthe efficiency of the central rewards mechanism 102. In an exemplaryembodiment, each retailer's region, which comprises a plurality of thatretailer's stores or outlets, accesses a rewards server 120 which actsas an intermediary between the retailer regional processor 114 and thecentral rewards mechanism 102. This configuration relieves theprocessing, power, memory, and other requirements of the central rewardsmechanism 102. Moreover, each retailer is but one of many retailers thatmay participate in the network level rewards structure. Accordingly, aplurality of rewards servers 120 may be in communication with thecentral rewards mechanism 102 as well as each of the participatingretailer regional processors 114, further alleviating the processingburden and freeing up the resources of the central rewards mechanism102.

Implementations which include at least one independent rewards server120 are also advantageous because cost-effective communications linksmay be used to facilitate communications with the central rewardsmechanism 102. Performance by the rewards server 120 of many of the“intelligence functions” of the system 100, permits transmission of onlyparticular forms of purchaser information to the central rewardsmechanism 102. In an exemplary embodiment, data sent from the rewardsserver 120 to the central rewards mechanism 102 may include the consumerID and the total number of rewards points earned by a consumer in aparticular transaction. In another exemplary embodiment, datatransmitted by the rewards server 120 to the central rewards mechanism102 may also include any pre-selected aspect of the consumer profile,any pre-selected aspect of the purchase data, and/or any otherpre-selected data associated with a consumer, a retailer, amanufacturer, and/or a third-party provider. Pre-selection of the typesof data transmitted by the rewards server 120 to the central rewardsmechanism 102 may be conducted by the system administrator, a retailer,a manufacturer, and/or a third-party provider. Thus, data which may beuseful for purposes of data analysis but unrelated to the rewardsfeature, such as the characteristics of the particular item purchasedfor example, may not need to be transmitted to the central rewardsmechanism 102.

Exemplary functions performed by the rewards server 120 may include theassociation of UPC and SKU data; manipulation of the rewards criteriaapplicable in particular cases, which may further depend upon theretailer, manufacturer, and/or third-party provider involved in aspecific transaction with a consumer; calculation of rewards benefitsearned by the consumer; filtration functions for determining which datais transmitted from the rewards server 120 to the central rewardsmechanism 102; and/or various types of data analyses, as describedabove. In an exemplary embodiment, the retailer system 104 houses,maintains, and updates the hardware and/or software of the rewardsserver 120. In another embodiment, rewards server 120 may be housed,maintained, and updated by the system administrator.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, thesystem 100 permits an open payment system. Since the invention generallyprovides that consumer participation in the system is based upon aconsumer ID, a purchaser may use any of multiple payment vehicles (suchas cash, check, charge card, credit card, debit card, MasterCard®,Visa®, and/or the American Express® Card for example) to make purchasesat the various retailers and still participate in the system. Thus, inone embodiment, the consumer ID is independent of any particular paymentvehicle, such as a credit card for example.

However, alternate embodiments of the invention may be implemented whichassociate a consumer ID with a particular payment vehicle, such as aconsumer's credit card account, charge card account, debit card account,and/or bank account for example. In this embodiment, the retailerconducting the transaction need only participate in the system to theextent that the retailer provides its SKU data to the system 100, suchas to the rewards server 120. In other words, when a consumer ID isassociated with an instrument (e.g., a credit card) from a third-partyprovider, the retailer need not provide a rewards terminal or otherterminal capable of processing the consumer ID, since the third-partyprovider may process the consumer ID as part of the payment transaction.Thus, in this embodiment, rewards benefits may be earned by the consumeron a network-wide level without the retailer's direct participation inthe rewards feature (notwithstanding the retailer's participation intransmitting SKU data to the system). Moreover, it will be appreciatedthat a single consumer ID may be associated with multiple third-partypayment vehicles, thereby allowing a consumer to generate rewards pointsregardless of the particular payment vehicle selected for a particularpurchase.

With reference to FIG. 4, an exemplary central rewards mechanism 402includes a central processor 404 in communication with other elements ofthe rewards mechanism 402 through a system interface or bus 406. Asuitable display device/input device 408, such as a keyboard or pointingdevice in combination with a monitor, may be provided for receiving datafrom and outputting data to a user of the system. A memory 410, which isassociated with the rewards mechanism 402, includes various softwaremodules, such as an enrollment module 412 and an authentication module414 for example. The memory 410 preferably further includes an operatingsystem 416 which enables execution by central processor 404 of thevarious software applications residing at enrollment module 412 andauthentication module 414. Operating system 416 may be any suitableoperating system, as described above. Preferably, a network interface418 is provided for suitably interfacing with other elements of theincentive awards system, such as the elements described above withreference to FIGS. 1-3.

Lastly, a storage device 420, such as a hard disk drive for example,preferably contains files or records which are accessed by the varioussoftware modules, such as enrollment module 412 and authenticationmodule 414. In particular, consumer data 422 comprises informationreceived from a consumer upon registration with the rewards mechanism402. Consumer rewards 424 comprises data corresponding to eachconsumer's rewards account. Consumer rewards 424 may include cumulativerewards points totals as well as historical totals and rewards accountactivity over time. Retailer records 426 comprises information receivedfrom the various participating retailers. Manufacturer records 428comprises information received from the various participatingmanufacturers. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the storagedevice 420 and, therefore, consumer data 422, consumer rewards 424,retailer records 426, and manufacturer records 428 may be co-locatedwith the rewards mechanism 402 or may be remotely located with respectto the rewards mechanism 402. If the storage device 420 is remotelylocated with respect to the rewards mechanism 402, communication betweenstorage device 420 and rewards mechanism 402 may be accomplished by anysuitable communication link but is preferably accomplished through aprivate intranet or extranet.

Enrollment module 412 receives information from consumers, retailers,and/or manufacturers who wish to participate in the system. Enrollmentmodule 412 accesses and stores information in storage device 420.Authentication and/or validation of the identity and status ofparticipants, including any of the other system components, may beperformed by the authentication module 414, which preferably has accessto the records residing in storage device 420.

With reference to FIG. 5, an exemplary rewards server 502 includes acentral processor 504 in communication with other elements of therewards server 502 through a system interface or bus 506. A suitabledisplay device/input device 508, such as a keyboard or pointing devicein combination with a monitor, may be provided for receiving data fromand outputting data to a user of the system. A memory 510, which isassociated with the rewards server 502, includes a variety of softwaremodules, such as an association module 512, a rewards calculation module514, a data analysis module 516, and a filtering module 518 for example.The memory 510 preferably further includes an operating system 520 whichenables execution by central processor 504 of the various softwareapplications residing at the various modules 512, 514, 516, and 518.Operating system 520 may be any suitable operating system, as describedabove. Preferably, a network interface 522 is provided for suitablyinterfacing with other elements of the incentive awards system, such asthe elements described above with reference to FIGS. 1-3.

Lastly, a storage device 524, such as a database as described above forexample, preferably contains files or records which are accessed by thevarious software modules 512, 514, 516, and 518. In particular,manufacturer data 526 comprises information received from amanufacturer, such as descriptions or other information regarding themanufacturer's products and/or services as well as UPC data for example.Retailer data 528 comprises information received from a retailer, suchas descriptions or other information regarding the retailer's productsand/or services as well as SKU data for example. Consumer data 530comprises information pertaining to a consumer, including a consumer ID,purchase data, a consumer profile, and/or the like. One skilled in theart will appreciate that the storage device 524 and, therefore,manufacturer data 526, retailer data 528, and consumer data 530 may beco-located with the rewards server 502 or may be remotely located withrespect to the rewards server 502. If the storage device 524 is remotelylocated with respect to the rewards server 502, communication betweenstorage device 524 and rewards server 502 may be accomplished by anysuitable communication link but is preferably accomplished through aprivate intranet or extranet.

Referring next to FIGS. 6 and 7, the process flows depicted in thesefigures are merely exemplary embodiments of the invention and are notintended to limit the scope of the invention as described above. It willbe appreciated that the following description makes appropriatereference not only to the steps depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7 but also tothe various system components as described above with reference to FIGS.1-3.

FIG. 6 is flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for capturing andprocessing POS SKU data in accordance with the present invention. Theassociation or matching of UPC and SKU data begins with POS data capture(step 602). When a consumer presents a consumer ID to a retailer 104 atthe time of purchasing an item from the retailer 104, the consumer ID isprocessed by a rewards terminal 116 that recognizes the consumer ID andidentifies the consumer as a participant in the system 100. Purchasedata is captured by the retailer POS terminal 112. Purchase data mayinclude any of the following: a SKU number; a unit price; a totaltransaction price; the payment vehicle(s) used; a store ID whichidentifies the particular store location if a retailer operates morethan one store; a department ID, if the store has multiple departments;the date of the transaction; the time of the transaction; the employeeID of the store clerk who facilitates the transaction; a POS terminal IDto identify the particular terminal conducting the transaction; anyretailer-specific incentive program ID; and/or the like. The retailerPOS terminal 112 creates a transaction file comprising the consumer data(including a consumer ID) and purchase data (including a SKU numberassociated with each item purchased), and the transaction file is thenstored by the retailer processor 110 in database 111 (step 604).

The various transaction files may be consolidated by the retailerprocessor 110 and then forwarded to the retailer regional processor 114(step 606) for further back-office and cumulative data analysisperformed by retailer 104.

In an exemplary embodiment, the transaction file is transmitted byeither of the retailer processor 110 or the retailer regional processor114 to the rewards server 120 (step 608). The SKU information for eachitem included in the transaction file is then matched to or associatedwith corresponding UPC information which identifies the relatedmanufacturer 106. An exemplary association process is illustrated in theflowchart of FIG. 7. Association of SKU and UPC data may be accomplishedthrough any data association technique known and practiced in the art.For example, the association may be accomplished either manually orautomatically. Automatic association techniques may include, forexample, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, and/orthe like.

In an exemplary embodiment, database 121 receives and storesmanufacturer data, including UPC data, from manufacturer 106 (step 702).Database 121 also receives and stores retailer data, including SKUnumbers, from retailer 104 (step 704). In an exemplary implementation,database 121 stores manufacturer data in a separate manufacturer datatable for each participating manufacturer 106. Each manufacturer datatable may comprise a plurality of fields, such as “UPC” and “productdescription” for example, and a plurality of records, each of whichcorresponds to an item offered by the participating manufacturer 106. Inone embodiment, database 121 stores retailer data in a separate retailerdata table for each participating retailer 104. Each retailer data tablemay comprise a plurality of fields, such as “SKU” and “productdescription”, for example, and a plurality of records, each recordcorresponding to an item offered by a participating retailer 104.

Data from each of the manufacturer and the retailer data tables is thenassociated (step 706). The association step may be accomplished by adatabase merge function, for example, using a “key field” in each of themanufacturer and retailer data tables. A “key field” partitions thedatabase according to the high-level class of objects defined by the keyfield. For example, a “product description” class may be designated as akey field in both the manufacturer data table and the retailer datatable, and the two data tables may then be merged on the basis of the“product description” data in the key field. In this embodiment, thedata corresponding to the key field in each of the merged data tables ispreferably the same. That is, the product descriptions in themanufacturer data table matches the product descriptions in the retailerdata table. However, manufacturer and retailer data tables havingsimilar, though not identical, data in the key fields may also be mergedby using AGREP, for example.

The result of the data association step is the creation of a separatedata table, such as a UPC/SKU lookup table for example (step 708). Thus,when the rewards server 120 receives the data (e.g., consumer ID and SKUdata) captured by the POS terminal (step 710), the rewards server 120may search the UPC/SKU lookup table for the appropriate SKU number andthen match the SKU to the corresponding UPC data (step 712). In anexemplary embodiment, the “SKU” and “UPC” fields in the UPC/SKU datatable may be linked by an appropriate pointer. That is, when the rewardsserver 120 searches the UPC/SKU table and locates the particular SKUthat has been captured and transmitted by the POS terminal, thespecifically identified SKU datafield uses a pointer to direct therewards server 120 to the UPC datafield that corresponds to that SKUnumber. In an exemplary embodiment, the UPC datafield may be linked byone or more additional pointers to other key fields, such as a consumerID, a retailer ID, a manufacturer ID, and/or a third-party ID. Theseadditional pointers may be used as means for compiling data which may beuseful in any of the various data analyses performed by the rewardsserver 120. In this manner, the association of POS SKU numbers and UPCdata may be used to create a context in which standardized, network-wideanalyses may be conducted.

In an exemplary embodiment, the rewards server 120 utilizes theassociation information to calculate the rewards points generated by aconsumer's purchase. For example, an appropriate series of pointersleading from a SKU to a UPC to a manufacturer ID may ultimately directthe rewards server 120 to employ a 2-for-1 manufacturer rewards ratio toaward a consumer twice as many points as the dollar amount of theconsumer's total transaction price. In another exemplary embodiment, anappropriate series of pointers may result in the calculation of rewardspoints based upon multiple rewards criteria, such as rewards criteriaassociated with the manufacturer of the item as well as rewards criteriaassociated with a third-party provider for example.

In a further embodiment, the rewards server 120 may use the associationof UPC and SKU number data to analyze a variety of marketing variablesacross multiple manufacturers and retailers. For example, rewards server120 may use a series of pointers leading from an SKU to a UPC and thento a “consumer profile” field or table to correlate, for instance,consumer spending behaviors, particular manufacturers, and/or specificproducts across multiple retailers for example.

In alternative embodiments, association of the UPC data and SKU numbermay take place at any of the rewards terminal 116, the retailer POSterminal 112, the retailer processor 110, the retailer regionalprocessor 114 (or a retailer national processor), and/or the centralrewards mechanism 102.

In one embodiment, the retailer 104 may offer an incentive or loyaltyprogram that is independent from the program offered by the system 100.Alternatively, the retailer 104 may use the system's UPC data for itsown internal purposes.

With momentary reference to FIG. 6, in one exemplary embodiment, theconsumer ID and the earned rewards information are transmitted to thecentral rewards mechanism 102 after the rewards server 120 has filteredout consumer data associated with the consumer ID (step 610). In anotherembodiment, the central rewards mechanism 102 may use the captured andmatched UPC information to determine rewards and/or for data analysis.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, FIG. 8 is anexemplary diagram illustrating an exemplary virtual purchasing system800. Virtual purchasing system 800 creates a purchasing environment thatcombines the opportunity to physically inspect the goods that areoffered for sale by “brick and mortar” retail establishments with theautomation, convenience, and large selection offered by an online retailnetwork. In an exemplary aspect, virtual purchasing system 800facilitates a convenient purchasing environment Which enables a consumerto select the particular goods that they wish to purchase, transmit dataregarding the selected goods to a virtual purchaser, and then purchasethe selected goods under perceived optimal conditions through thevirtual purchaser. The perceived optimal conditions may includeconditions such as lowest price, quickest estimated delivery time, or apreferred retailer, for example.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, virtual purchasingsystem 800 comprises a consumer terminal 802, a central rewardsmechanism 804, a virtual purchaser 806, and a retailer/merchant system808. It will be appreciated that the system 800 may comprise any numberof consumer terminals 802 and any number of retailer systems 808.

The consumer terminal 802 may be any remote terminal through which aconsumer may access other aspects of the system 800. Consumer terminal802 may comprise any of the input devices, computing units, or computingsystems described above. In an exemplary aspect, consumer terminal 802may be implemented in the form of an electronic hand-held device orpersonal digital assistant, such as a Palm Pilot® available from Palm,Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.), for example. Consumer terminal 802communicates with the system 800 through any of the communicationsnetworks described above. In an exemplary aspect, consumer terminal 802permits wireless communication with the system 800. In one embodiment,consumer terminal 802 may operate in real-time, as described above. Inanother embodiment, the consumer terminal 802 may operate in batch mode,as described above. In still a further embodiment, consumer terminal 802operates in a manner which includes aspects of both real-timefunctionality and batch mode functionality.

In an exemplary aspect, consumer terminal 802 permits a consumer toengage multiple facets of the system 800 in an interactive onlinecommunications environment. The interactive online environment madeavailable through consumer terminal 802 is an extension of thenetwork-level system and is implemented in conjunction with otheraspects of the system 800. In this context, a consumer may use consumerterminal 802 for a variety of purposes. In another exemplary aspect,consumer terminal 802 is adapted to input a retailer item identifierassociated with an item located at a retailer's store and thencommunicate the retailer item identifier to virtual purchaser 806. Inone embodiment, consumer terminal 802 comprises an input device 810; anetwork interface 812 which facilitates communication with the virtualpurchaser 806; and a virtual purchaser (VP) application module 814.

Input device 810 may be any device that is capable of identifying aretailer item identifier. Input device 810 may be configured tocommunicate a retailer item identifier to consumer terminal 802 in realtime or some time later. Input device 810 may be integrated withconsumer terminal 802 or may be a separate component that is adapted tocommunicate with consumer terminal 802. Exemplary input devices mayinclude devices for manually inputting a retailer item identifier (suchas an alphanumeric keypad, for example) and devices for optically,electronically or digitally inputting a retailer item identifier (suchas a bar code reader or scanner, for example).

In an exemplary embodiment, input device 810 includes a conventional barcode reader which is adapted to scan a retailer item identifier. In oneembodiment, the bar code reader is integrated with, and is a part of,the consumer terminal 802. In this embodiment, the input device 810 isused to input a retail item identifier and then communicate the retailitem identifier to consumer terminal 802 while, or soon after, readingthe retail item identifier. In another embodiment, the bar code readeris a separate component (such as a wand or a pen for example). In thisembodiment, input device 810 is configured to input and then store aretailer item identifier for later communication (e.g., downloading) toconsumer terminal 802.

Network interface 812 may be any suitable interface for establishing acommunications link between consumer terminal 802 and virtual purchaser806 and may establish communication with virtual purchaser 806 by any ofthe communications means set forth in detail above. In one embodiment,network interface 812 facilitates wireless communication betweenconsumer terminal 802 and virtual purchaser 806.

VP application module 814 is configured to facilitate interactionbetween consumer terminal 802 and virtual purchaser 806. After consumerterminal 802 receives a retailer item identifier from input device 810,VP application module 814 processes, stores, and/or communicates theretailer item identifier to virtual purchaser 806 via network interface812.

The central rewards mechanism 804 is substantially similar to, and maycomprise any of the components of, central rewards mechanism 102 and/orcentral rewards mechanism 402, as described above with reference toFIGS. 1-4. Moreover, central rewards mechanism 804 may be configured toinclude any of the functionality described above with reference tocentral rewards mechanism 102 and/or central rewards mechanism 402. Inparticular, central rewards mechanism 804 comprises an enrollment module816, which is substantially similar to enrollment module 512 of FIG. 5,and a storage device 818, which is substantially similar to storagedevice 420 of FIG. 4. In one embodiment, enrollment module 816 receivesconsumer enrollment data from consumers and then processes and transmitsthe consumer enrollment data to storage device 818 for storage andfuture retrieval.

In one embodiment, virtual purchaser 806 comprises a purchase module 820and a database 822. As illustrated in FIG. 9, an exemplary virtualpurchaser 806 further includes a processor 824 in communication withother elements of virtual purchaser 806 through an interface or bus 826.A suitable display/input device 828, such as a keyboard or pointingdevice in combination with a monitor, may be provided for receiving datafrom and outputting data to a user of virtual purchaser 806. A memory830 associated with virtual purchaser 806 includes a purchase module820. Memory 830 further includes an operating system 832 which enablesexecution by processor 824 of the software applications residing atpurchase module 820. Operating system 832 may be any suitable operatingsystem, as described above. The database 822 may be any type ofdatabase, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or thelike. Common database products that may be used to implement database822 include DB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y.), any of the databaseproducts available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.), anyof the database products available from Sybase, Inc. (Emeryville,Calif.), Microsoft Access by Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), orany other database product. In one embodiment, a network interface 834is provided for facilitating the interface of virtual purchaser 806 withother elements of the virtual purchasing system 800, described hereinwith reference to FIG. 8.

In another embodiment, virtual purchaser 806 includes an authenticationmodule 821 which facilitates the authentication and/or validation of theidentity and/or status of consumers who seek access to virtual purchaser806 through a consumer terminal 802. The authentication module 821 mayhave access to a suitable storage device, such as database 822 forexample, which maintains records identifying authorized consumers.

Referring once again to FIG. 8, virtual purchasing system 800 furtherincludes one or more retailer systems 808. The retailer system 808 issubstantially similar to, and may comprise any of the components of,retailer system 104, as described above with reference to FIGS. 1, 2,and 3. Moreover, retailer system 808 may be configured to include any ofthe functionality described above with reference to retailer system 104.In an exemplary embodiment, the retailer system 808 is in communicationwith a database 809. Database 809 is substantially similar to, and maycomprise any of the components and/or functionality of, database 111, asdescribed above. In one embodiment, database 809 stores retailer itemidentifiers and related data, such as item descriptions and item pricesfor example.

The rewards server 836 is substantially similar to, and may comprise anyof the components and/or functionality of, rewards server 120 and/or502, as described above with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. In anexemplary embodiment, the rewards server 836 is in communication with adatabase 837. Database 837 is substantially similar to, and may compriseany of the components and/or functionality of, database 121, asdescribed above. Although rewards server 836 is depicted in FIG. 8 as aseparate component of system 800, in an alternate embodiment of theinvention, the functionality of rewards server 836 is integrated withvirtual purchaser 806.

Referring next to FIGS. 10 and 11, the process flows depicted in thesefigures are merely exemplary embodiments of the invention and are notintended to limit the scope of the invention as described above. It willbe appreciated that the following description makes appropriatereference not only to the steps depicted in FIGS. 10 and 11 but also tothe various system components as described above with reference to FIGS.8 and 9. FIG. 10 is flowchart illustrating an exemplary process forfacilitating a search (for example, a network-wide search) for an itemwhich corresponds to a given retailer item identifier. Conducting anetwork-wide search begins with enrolling a consumer in the system ofthe invention (step 1002). As described above, enrollment isaccomplished by central rewards mechanism 804. That is, enrollmentmodule 816 receives and processes the consumer enrollment data,facilitates issuance of a consumer ID to the consumer, and transmits theconsumer enrollment data to storage device 818. After a consumer isenrolled in the system, the consumer may use the consumer ID wheninteracting with the virtual purchaser 806 and/or during a purchasetransaction facilitated by virtual purchaser 806.

After a consumer has enrolled in the system of the invention, theconsumer uses input device 810 to facilitate the capture, scan, read, orotherwise input of a retailer item identifier associated with an itemlocated at a retailer store into consumer terminal 802 (step 1004). Inone embodiment, the consumer terminal 802 is present at the retailerstore and the retailer item identifier is input directly into consumerterminal 802. In another embodiment, input device 810 stores theretailer item identifier and then downloads the data to consumerterminal 802 at a later time. After consumer terminal 802 receives theretailer item identifier, consumer terminal 802 can facilitateestablishing communications with virtual purchaser 806.

Once consumer terminal 802 contacts virtual purchaser 806, consumerterminal 802 facilitates transmission of a retailer item identifier tovirtual purchaser 806 to facilitate a network-wide search for that itemcorresponding to the retailer item identifier (step 1006). In oneembodiment, contacting virtual purchaser 806 includes using a consumerID for identification of the consumer and/or for authorization to accessthe virtual purchaser 806. Once contacted, virtual purchaser 806 mayrequest that the consumer select search criteria which virtual purchaser806 may use to customize a network-wide search for items that correspondto the retailer item identifier transmitted by consumer terminal 802(step 1008). In one embodiment, the requested search criteria mayinclude any number of the following: an item description, an item price,a quantity of the item, a retailer name or identifier, a retailerlocation that is nearest the consumer, a consumer rating of items and/orretailers, lowest price available for the item, quickest estimateddelivery time, a preferred retailer, and/or the like. In anotherembodiment, the consumer may select a set of master search criteriawhich are stored in database 822 as a default set of search criteriawhich is used by virtual purchaser 806 in subsequent searches requestedby the consumer, unless in one embodiment the consumer overrides themaster search criteria during a particular session. In this embodiment,the search criteria (i.e., master search criteria) may be selected andtransmitted to the virtual purchaser 806 by the consumer prior totransmitting a particular retailer item identifier. In one embodiment,selection of consumer search criteria and/or master search criteria isfacilitated by purchase module 820.

In another embodiment, the virtual purchaser 806 may permit the consumerto pre-authorize the virtual purchaser to facilitate automatic purchaseof the item on behalf of the consumer, if the search results include anitem which matches the consumer's specified search criteria (step 1010).In another embodiment, the virtual purchaser 806 permits the consumer toselect a desired format for the search results, such as displaying allsearch results for the consumer or displaying some subset (e.g.,retailers and/or items that exactly match the consumer's selectioncriteria) of the search results, for example.

After virtual purchaser 806 receives the retailer item identifier andreceives any search criteria from the consumer terminal 802 (or accessesany master search criteria), the retail item identifier is translated orassociated with a standard identifier, such as a manufacturer itemidentifier, for example (step 1012). The standard identifier can be usedto search the network for the same or similar items that may be offeredfor sale by other retailers under different conditions and/or terms(i.e., conditions and/or terms that are perceived to be more favorableby the consumer, as determined by the search criteria).

In one embodiment, the virtual purchaser 806 facilitates transmission tothe retailer item identifier and any search criteria to rewards server836 to accomplish the association process. In this embodiment, theretailer item identifier (e.g., a SKU) is standardized to facilitate asearch (e.g., local, with a category, network-wide, etc) for the itemidentified by the SKU. Standardization is accomplished by matching orassociating the SKU information with a corresponding manufacturer itemidentifier (e.g., a UPC) which identifies the manufacturer of the itemand/or a general description of the goods or services. Association ofSKU and UPC data may be accomplished through any data associationtechnique known and practiced in the art. For example, the associationmay be accomplished either manually or automatically. Automaticassociation techniques may be facilitated by, for example, a databasesearch, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, and/or the like. Anexemplary method for associating SKU and UPC data is described abovewith reference to FIG. 7.

In one embodiment, after associating the retailer item identifier with amanufacturer item identifier, rewards server 836 then uses the UPC data(target UPC) to facilitate a further search of database 837 (step 1014).This second search looks for the target UPC data across participatingretailers whose data (e.g., retailer identifier, items available,descriptions of items available, item price, delivery information, andthe like) is stored in database 837. As the rewards server 836 locatesretailers associated with the target UPC data, rewards server 836 addsthe relevant retailer identifier data, as well as any retailer data thatmay be relevant to the search criteria, to a retailer file (step 1016).If rewards server 836 is unable to sufficiently locate a certain numberof retailers that are associated with the target UPC data (e.g., theitem is not carried by other participating retailers or the item hasbeen discontinued and is no longer carried by participating retailers),rewards server 836 may search database 837 for the item description thatis associated with the target UPC data and the transmitted SKU. In thismanner, rewards server 836 may locate items that are similar to the itemdesired by the consumer. In an alternate embodiment, depending on thesearch criteria provided by the consumer, rewards server 836 may conducta search for similar items even though retailers carrying itemsassociated with the target UPC have been located. Once the search iscomplete, the rewards server 836 then transmits the retailer filecontaining the retailer data to virtual purchaser 806. In oneembodiment, virtual purchaser 806 receives and processes the retailerfile in accordance with any applicable consumer search criteria, anysearch results formatting criteria, and/or any data relating to apre-authorized automatic purchase of the item (step 1018).

After processing the retailer file, the virtual purchaser 806 enters apurchasing routine (step 1020). An exemplary purchasing routine isillustrated in FIG. 11. If the consumer has pre-authorized an automaticpurchase, purchase module 820 effects the purchase on behalf of theconsumer, as described in greater detail below. If the consumer has notpre-authorized an automatic purchase, virtual purchaser 806 transmits alist of the search results to consumer terminal 802 (step 1102). Uponreceiving the search results, consumer terminal 802 may select aretailer from which the consumer wishes to purchase the requested item(step 1104).

If the consumer has pre-authorized the automatic purchase of the item,purchase module 820 facilitates the pre-authorized purchase for theconsumer. In one embodiment, purchase module 820 requests transactioncard information from central rewards mechanism 804 (step 1106). Asdescribed above, storage device 818 contains consumer enrollment datawhich includes transaction card information for the consumer. Thetransaction card information is transmitted from central rewardsmechanism 802 to virtual purchaser 806, and purchase module 820 uses thetransaction card information to complete a purchase transaction onbehalf of the consumer with the retailer that satisfies the consumer'ssearch criteria (step 1108). Once the purchase transaction is complete,virtual purchaser 806 sends a confirmation to the consumer terminal 802indicating that the requested purchase has been made (step 1110). Theconfirmation may be in any suitable form, such as through an email, overthe phone, or through the mail, for example, and may include anysuitable information, such as information which indicates the retailer,the price, the particular item, the quantity, the delivery time frame,and/or the like.

If the consumer selects a retailer from which to purchase the item afterviewing the search results, the purchase module 820 queries whether theconsumer wishes to use the transaction card on file with the centralrewards mechanism 804 (step 1112). If the consumer wishes to use thetransaction card that is on file with the system, purchase module 820completes the purchase transaction in the manner described above withreference to a pre-authorized purchase transaction (steps 1106 through1110). If the consumer wishes to use an alternate method of payment, thepurchase module requests, receives, and processes the new paymentinformation (1114). Once the new payment information is received, thepurchase transaction with the selected retailer is completed (step1116), and confirmation is sent to the consumer as described above (step1118).

In an exemplary embodiment, once the confirmation is sent to theconsumer, the virtual purchaser 806 may also send an automatic reminderto the consumer as the delivery data approaches. In another embodiment,the virtual purchaser 806 may also provide automatic tracking of theshipment for the consumer.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, FIG. 12 is a diagramillustrating an exemplary consumer purchasing analysis system 1200.Consumer purchasing analysis system 1200 may be used to analyze aconsumer's purchasing behaviors, compare budgeted purchases with actualpurchases, compare prices of various retailers, and generate reportswhich detail these analyses and therefore assist a consumer in managingtheir personal finances. The comprehensive nature of the data madeavailable to a consumer through consumer purchasing analysis system 1200permits network-wide, product-level knowledge of a consumer's specificpurchasing patterns across retailers. The detailed tracking provided byconsumer purchasing analysis system 1200 of a consumer's particularpurchasing activities permits the consumer to analyze those activitiesand thereby achieve greater control over their personal financialsituation.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 12, consumer purchasinganalysis system 1200 comprises a retailer/merchant system 1202, a rewardserver 1204, and a consumer system 1206. It will be appreciated that thesystem 1200 may comprise any number of retailer systems 1202 and anynumber of consumer systems 1206.

In an exemplary embodiment, the retailer system 1202 comprises aretailer terminal 1208, a smart interface 1209, and a retailer processor1210. The retailer processor 1210 may be in communication with adatabase 1211. The retailer system 1202 is substantially similar to, andmay comprise any of the components of, retailer system 104, as describedabove with reference to FIGS. 1-3. Moreover, retailer system 1202 may beconfigured to include any of the functionality described above withreference to retailer system 104. Retailer terminal 1208 issubstantially similar to, and may comprise any of the components and/orfunctionality of, retailer terminal 108; retailer processor 1210 issubstantially similar to, and may comprise any of the components and/orfunctionality of, retailer processor 110; and database 1211 issubstantially similar to, and may comprise any of the components and/orfunctionality of, database 111. Smart interface 1209 is any device whichis configured to interface with input device 1216. Exemplary smartinterfaces include a smartcard reader, an RF reader, and an RFtransceiver reader.

The rewards server 1204 is substantially similar to, and may compriseany of the components and/or functionality of, rewards server 120 and/or502, as described above with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. In anexemplary embodiment, the rewards server 1204 is in communication with adatabase 1205. Database 1205 is substantially similar to, and maycomprise any of the components and/or functionality of, database 121, asdescribed above.

In an exemplary embodiment, the consumer system 1206 comprises aconsumer terminal 1214 and an input device 1216. Optionally, consumersystem 1206 may also include a smart interface 1218. Consumer terminal1212 may be any remote terminal through which a consumer may accessother aspects of the system 1200 and may comprise any of the inputdevices, computing units, or computing systems described herein.Further, consumer terminal 1212 communicates with the system 1200through any of the communications networks described above. In anexemplary aspect, consumer terminal 1212 comprises a data analysisapplication 1214. Data analysis application 1214 may be any suitableapplication for analyzing data. Common data analysis products that maybe used to implement data analysis application 1214 include Quicken® orany of the other products available from Intuit, Inc. (Mountain View,Calif.), Microsoft Money® by Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), orany other data analysis product

Smart interface 1218 is any device which is adapted to facilitatecommunication between input device 1216 and consumer terminal 1212 ifcomponents 1212 and 1216 are separate devices. Exemplary smartinterfaces include a smartcard reader, an RF reader, and an RFtransceiver reader.

Input device 1216 may be any device that is capable of receiving oruploading purchase data from a retailer system 1202. Input device 1216may be configured to communicate the purchase data to consumer terminal1212 in real time or some time later. Input device 1216 may beintegrated with consumer terminal 1212 or may be a separate componentthat is adapted to communicate with consumer terminal 1212, such asthrough smart interface 1218. Exemplary input devices may includesoftware, smartcards and smartcard readers, non-contact smart chipsystems, read-write transponder systems, and other smart chip devicesand related technology. In an exemplary aspect, input device 1216 isintegrated with a consumer ID.

A number of standards have been developed to address general aspects ofintegrated circuit or smart cards, e.g.: ISO 7816-1, Part 1: Physicalcharacteristics (1987); ISO 7816-2, Part 2: Dimensions and location ofthe contacts (1988); ISO 7816-3, Part 3: Electronic signals andtransmission protocols ( 1989, Amd. 1 1992, Amd. 2 1994); ISO 7816-4,Part 4: Inter-industry commands for interchange (1995); ISO 7816-5, Part5: Numbering system and registration procedure for applicationidentifiers (1994, Amd. 1 1995); ISO/IEC DIS 7816-6, Inter-industry dataelements (1995); ISO/IEC WD 7816-7, Part 7: Enhanced inter-industrycommands (1995);

and ISO/IEC WD 7816-8, Part 8: Inter-industry security architecture(1995). These standards are hereby incorporated by reference.Furthermore, general information regarding magnetic stripe cards andchip cards can be found in a number of standard texts, e.g., Zoreda &Oton, SMART CARDS (1994), and Rankl & Effing, SMART CARD HANDBOOK(1997), the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Foradditional information regarding such cards, see, for example,application Ser. No. 09/522,628, filed Mar. 10, 2000, entitled “Methodsand Apparatus for Authenticating the Download of Applets onto aSmartcard,” which is hereby incorporated by reference. Additionally, forfurther information on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems andtheir use in the context of read-write transponders, see, for example,the recently completed ISO 14443 standard, which specifies a standardform of communication for non-contact smart chips, and provisionalapplication Ser. No. 60/304,216, filed Jul. 10, 2001, entitled “Systemand Method for RFID Payments”, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

In an exemplary aspect, input device 1216 is a separate component ofconsumer system 1206 that is used to upload purchase data from aretailer system 1202 at the retailer's location and then download thepurchase data to consumer terminal 1212 some time later through smartinterface 1218. In one embodiment, input device 1216 includes asmartcard which is adapted to interface with retailer terminal 1208through a smart interface 1209 that includes a smartcard reader. Inanother embodiment, input device 1216 includes a transponder which usesRFID to interact with smart interface 1209 without physically contactingsmart interface 1209. In this embodiment, smart interface 1209 includesan RF reader or RF transceiver reader.

In another exemplary aspect, input device 1216 is integrated withconsumer terminal 1212 and may be used to upload purchase data fromretailer system 1202 to consumer terminal 1212 directly. In oneembodiment, an integrated consumer terminal 1212 and input device 1216may communicate with an online retailer system 1202 to receive purchasedata from the online retailer system 1202. In another embodiment,consumer terminal 1212 may be a hand-held electronic device, such as apersonal digital assistant, which includes an integrated input device1216 that is configured to interact with smart interface 1209 at theretailer's location.

Referring next to FIGS. 13 and 14, the process flows depicted in thesefigures are merely exemplary embodiments of the invention and are notintended to limit the scope of the invention as described above. It willbe appreciated that the following description makes appropriatereference not only to the steps depicted in FIGS. 13 and 14 but also tothe various system components as described above with reference to FIG.12.

FIG. 13 is flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for facilitatingobtaining a record of a consumer's purchasing activities. Analyzing aconsumer's purchasing activities may begin when a retailer terminal 1208processes and records a consumer purchase transaction, either online(such as at a merchant web site for example) or off-line (such as at aretailer store for example) (step 1302). The consumer purchasetransaction generates purchase data, such as any of the purchase datadescribed above. In one embodiment, the purchase data may include aretailer item identifier, a retailer ID, and an item price. The consumersystem 1206 receives (e.g., uploads) the purchase data from retailersystem 1202 via input device 1216 (step 1304). The consumer system thenanalyzes the purchase data using data analysis application 1214 (step1306).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for analyzing aconsumer's purchasing activities. In an exemplary aspect, consumersystem 1206 communicates with rewards server 1204 to standardize thedata used by data analysis application 1214. In one embodiment, aconsumer communicates with rewards server 1204 while the consumer usesdata analysis application 1214 to prepare a budget. The consumeraccesses rewards server 1204 to select the various items that theconsumer intends to purchase over the budget period (step 1402). Thebudget period may be for any predetermined period of time, such as aweek, a month, six month, a year, etc.

In one embodiment, the rewards server 1204 facilitates item selection bydesignating items by product category (e.g., clothes, electronics,sports equipment, etc.) or by specific product (e.g., jeans, stereo,bicycle, etc.), including specific products by particular manufacturers.For each item selected by the consumer, rewards server 1204 transmits anappropriate standard identifier to consumer terminal 1212 (step 1404).If a consumer designates a selected item by product category, therewards server 1204 transmits a standard identifier that corresponds toa product category that is associated with the retailer ID of retailerswho sell items in that product category. If a consumer designates aselected item by specific product, the rewards server 1204 transmits amanufacturer item identifier (e.g., UPC) that corresponds to thatspecific product. The consumer then completes the budgeting process byindicating the amount of funds that the consumer intends to spend oneach of the selected items (i.e., budgeted funds) (step 1406). The dataanalysis application 1214 then determines an amount of funds thatcorresponds to the total budget for the budget period (step 1408), andthe established budget is stored by consumer terminal 1212 (step 1410).The consumer system 1206 may terminate the session with the rewardsserver 1204 any time after receiving the appropriate standardidentifiers.

After the budget is established and stored by consumer terminal 1212,the consumer uses input device 1216 to transmit purchase data toconsumer terminal 1212 (step 1412). In an exemplary embodiment, afterthe purchase data is transmitted to consumer terminal 1212, consumersystem 1206 communicates with rewards server 1204 to standardize thepurchase data (step 1414). Standardization of the purchase data mayinclude facilitating the conversion of retailer item identifiers (e.g.,SKUs) to manufacturer item identifiers (e.g., UPCs) to facilitate thereconciliation of actual purchases with the established budget. Theconversion or association of SKU and UPC data is described above withreference to FIG. 7. After the purchase data is standardized andconsumer terminal 1212 receives the appropriate standard identifiers,the purchase data is analyzed by data analysis application 1214.

In one aspect of the analysis, budgeted items and actual items arecorrelated with each other based upon the standard identifiers (step1416). That is, a budgeted item that is designated by product categoryis correlated with an actual item that is associated with a retailer IDthat corresponds to the appropriate product category. Likewise, abudgeted item that is designated by specific product is correlated withan actual item that is associated with a UPC that corresponds to thatspecific product. In one embodiment, the analysis performed by dataanalysis application 1214 may include a comparison of the establishedbudget to actual purchase activity and/or a real-time or periodicreconciliation of budgeted items with actually purchased items (step1418). A budget reconciliation may include displaying or printing acomparison of budgeted items and/or budgeted funds with actuallypurchased items and/or actual funds spent for a selected period (e.g.,the budget period or any period within the budget period). In anotherembodiment, the analysis may include actual or projected cash flowanalyses based upon the actual funds spent in a given period, forexample.

In one embodiment, the analysis may include an alert when a budgetreconciliation determines that over- or under-spending has occurred,including when over- or under-spending occurs in specific productcategories or for specific products (step 1420). In this context,under-spending means that budgeted funds have not yet been spent.Moreover, the budget reconciliation includes a pre-set percentage oramount has been spent or not been spent in a category or over a setnumber of categories. In one embodiment, the consumer is alerted byconsumer terminal 1212. In another embodiment, the consumer system 1206transmits an alert to a third-party, such as a financial advisor forexample.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific embodiments. However, it will be appreciated thatvarious modifications and changes can be made without departing from thescope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Thespecification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative manner,rather than a restrictive one, and all such modifications are intendedto be included within the scope of present invention. Accordingly, thescope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims andtheir legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given above. Forexample, the steps recited in any of the method or process claims may beexecuted in any order and are not limited to the order presented in theclaims.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed above with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of any or all the claims. As used herein, the terms“comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intendedto cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method,article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not includeonly those elements but may include other elements not expressly listedor inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, noelement described herein is required for the practice of the inventionunless expressly described as “essential” or “critical”.

1. A method for purchasing items, said method comprising: obtaining aretailer item identifier associated with a first item; transmitting saidretailer item identifier to a remote processor, wherein said retaileritem identifier is associated with a manufacturer item identifier;transmitting search criteria to said remote processor, wherein saidsearch criteria is related to a feature associated with said first item,thereby causing said remote processor to search retailers based on atleast one of: said retailer item identifier, said manufacturer itemidentifier, and said search criteria to determine a retailer who offersto sell said first item; and, pre-authorizing said remote processor toautomatically purchase said first item.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising causing searching of retailers based on said searchcriteria to determine a retailer who offers to sell a second item whichincludes said feature.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprisingcausing searching of retailers based on said search criteria todetermine a retailer who offers to sell a second item which includessaid feature; and, pre-authorizing said remote processor toautomatically purchase said second item.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising causing searching of retailers based on said searchcriteria to determine a retailer who offers to sell a second item whichincludes said feature when said first item does not meet certainpurchase criteria.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising causingsearching of retailers based on said search criteria to determine aretailer who offers to sell a second item which includes said featurewhen said first item does not meet certain purchase criteria, whereinsaid purchase criteria comprises at least one of: availability,features, price, quantity, retailer, retailer location, consumer rating,extra fees, quality, and shipping time.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving a confirmation indicating that saidpre-authorized purchase transaction has been completed.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said search criteria comprises at least one of:availability, features, price, quantity, retailer, retailer location,consumer rating, extra fees, quality, and shipping time.
 8. The methodof claim 1, further comprising causing a conversion of said retaileritem identifier to a manufacturer item identifier at the remoteprocessor.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of transmittingsearch criteria to said remote processor comprises causing said remoteprocessor to obtain previously submitted search criteria from memory.10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a retailer whooffers to sell said first item.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising receiving a retailer who offers to sell said first item priorto transmitting said pre-authorization to said remote processor.
 12. Amethod for a remote processor to purchase items, said method comprising:receiving, at a remote processor, a retailer item identifier associatedwith a first item, wherein said retailer item identifier is associatedwith a manufacturer item identifier; receiving search criteria whereinsaid search criteria is related to a feature associated with said firstitem; searching retailers based on at least one of: said retailer itemidentifier, said manufacturer item identifier, and said search criteriato determine a retailer who offers to sell said first item; and,purchasing said first item based on a pre-authorization to purchase. 13.The method of claim 12, further comprising searching retailers based onsaid search criteria to determine a retailer who offers to sell a seconditem which includes said feature.
 14. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising searching retailers based on said search criteria todetermine a retailer who offers to sell a second item which includessaid feature; and, purchasing said second item based on apre-authorization to purchase.
 15. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising searching retailers based on said search criteria todetermine a retailer who offers to sell a second item which includessaid feature when said first item does not meet certain purchasecriteria.
 16. The method of claim 12, further comprising searchingretailers based on said search criteria to determine a retailer whooffers to sell a second item which includes said feature when said firstitem does not meet certain purchase criteria, wherein said purchasecriteria comprises at least one of: availability, features, price,quantity, retailer, retailer location, consumer rating, extra fees,quality, and shipping time.
 17. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising sending a confirmation indicating that said pre-authorizedpurchase transaction has been completed.
 18. The method of claim 12,wherein said search criteria comprises at least one of: availability,features, price, quantity, retailer, retailer location, consumer rating,extra fees, quality, and shipping time.
 19. The method of claim 12,further comprising converting said retailer item identifier to amanufacturer item identifier.
 20. The method of claim 12, wherein saidstep of receiving search criteria comprises obtaining previouslysubmitted search criteria from memory.